ARTICLES ABOUT DELAWARE BY DATE - PAGE 2

The body of a man who had been missing more than a week in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area was found in a stream Thursday evening by hikers, authorities said Friday. Thomas E. Stewart, 51, of Columbia, Lancaster County, died in the Recreation Area of drowning and exposure, and his death was an accident, Monroe County Coroner Bob Allen said after an autopsy. Stewart may have lost his footing in the rain and hurt himself before he died, Allen said. "It's not easy to walk through certain parts of the national park unless you stay on the trails," he said.

Berks Jazz Fest General Manager John Ernesto is well aware that 2015 will mark the 25 t h anniversary of the festival, which offers 140 performances over 10 days at major venues, clubs and restaurants in the Reading area. "It's on my mind a lot," Ernesto says. "We're already made some preliminary plans. We're working on different things. " But while Ernesto already is looking ahead, he wants everyone else to focus on what's immediately ahead: The 24 t h annual Berks Jazz Fest.

With a brand new 18-team league set to be unveiled on June 4, this is the last year for Lehigh Valley Conference softball and all of the LVC spring sports. While the 12 members will remain intact, the new league (it will reportedly feature a new name) will have a different look and feel in 2014-15. Most notably, the six remaining members of the current Mountain Valley Conference will come aboard to form its own division. In its final season in its current 14-game regular season format, the LVC seems to have clear separation between the elite and the rebuilding.

Bean counters are still tabulating the staggering effects of the U.S. government shutdown late last year, but evidence already suggests a portion of the draining effect of the 16-day closure landed in an unlikely place. Hundreds of miles from the bickering in Washington, the 40-mile-long Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area meanders past hemlocks and ravines along the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border. When the feds reached an impasse in October, rangers closed this national park and hundreds like it to visitors for 16 days.

TRENTON - A shivering two-year-old pit bull who was stranded on a frozen patch of the Delaware River for hours Sunday is safely home with his family after being rescued by two daring dog-lovers. Russ Miller, a former firefighter, and Ciro Silvestri, a bystander who refused advice to stay off the ice, ventured about 200 yards out into the river to reach the frightened dog as the sun was setting on a frigid day. Miller took along an ocean kayak to use for flotation if he fell in and to carry the dog back to the shore.

K.C. Keeler produced one FCS national championship at Delaware. His new goal is to help Sam Houston State take the final step to get there. Keeler was named the Bearkats' 15th coach on Thursday. He replaces Willie Fritz, who left earlier this month to take the head coaching job at Georgia Southern. The 54-year-old Emmaus native was among five finalists for the job. Former Northwest Missouri State coach Mel Tjeerdsma was considered the front-runner earlier in the week. Instead, Keeler emerged as the choice.

The pilot killed Wednesday night in a small plane crash in dense fog and rain along the New Jersey side of the Delaware River has been identified as a 71-year-old Hunterdon County man. Joseph Borin of the Whitehouse Station section of Readington Township crashed Wednesday in a remote area off Route 627 in Holland Township. Witnesses in the Upper Black Eddy area of Bucks County reported hearing a plane crash about 5 p.m. Wednesday, but rescue crews did not find the wreckage until about 10:30 p.m..

The hope, according to Lehigh University women's basketball coach Sue Troyan, is that battles against top-caliber competition - such as Saturday's 77-64 setback to a young but talented Delaware team in the championship of the Christmas City Classic at Stabler Arena - will prepare the Mountain Hawks for those key Patriot League clashes come late February and early March. Right now, though, Troyan's squad isn't quite ready to seriously challenge a club like Delaware. The Blue Hens (8-2)

Fly with your imagination as you follow the splash of the Atlantic salmon in the documentary "Kiss the Water," screening Tuesday at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks to benefit Lehigh Valley Trout Unlimited and its streamside habitat improvement projects. "Kiss the Water" focuses on the life of Megan Boyd, a self-taught Scottish fly-maker, who became an internationally renowned artisan. Her work appreciated by Prince Charles and other enthusiasts of fly fishing. The film by Eric Steel was an Official Selection at this year's Tribeca Film Festival.

Those annoying gnats will remain under control in Schuylkill County, which is again participating in the annual black fly suppression. The county commissioners approved participation in the state Department of Environmental Protection program in November. In 2013, 33 counties participated, including Schuylkill, Lehigh, Northampton, Berks and Bucks. "There is currently no disease threat in Pennsylvania related to black fly bites," Lynda Rebarchak, DEP community relations coordinator, said.